Kinetic (Closed)

[Valentia de la Torres]

It had been an incredibly unsettling flight to Moscow. Over ten hours on a private plane with two of the most important people in existence. But things were on edge, like teetering on the sharpened blade of a knife. Even staying stagnant was detrimental - painful. The energy was distracting. With each passing moment, the pressure built. Even when Anastasia found the means to rest - prescriptive sleep, as it was - it did little to calm the way her energy shifted. Even in her sleep, she was stressed.

Valentia reserved her energy as best she could. Meditating and such, as it were. Energy-based abilities often meant the individual had more of a reserve for this sort of thing. She should have slept, or at least tried to. But she sat still the whole time, her eyes closed for a time. Other times open, staring forward. Or out the window.

Leaving the airport was simple – it saw them ushered into a car without ever really traversing through the terminal itself. Barely taking steps between the plane and the car itself. It was all ready. The dark of night. Somewhere close to the midnight hour, give or take.

Valentia chose to sit in the front passenger’s seat. Give her friends some time to themselves. Or perhaps it was for her own sake. To be alone. Never lonely, but alone with her thoughts for the time. The drive.

When they did arrive at the house she spent so little time in as a child, Valentia idly wondered if she should have made more contact with them. Her adoptive parents had been the ones to call her and tell her of the event that plagued her sister’s life, but she’d never given word that she was on her way. She hadn’t thought to. Still, she wasn’t worried. She knew how they felt about Odarennyi. She knew how they believed it was responsible for the change in her own demeanour.

Leaving the confinements of the car, Valentia glanced back at the two she’d brought with her, her dark eyes offering some form of <reassurance>. She knew it wouldn’t be lost on Anastasia, and that she could pass it to Ivan in turn.

Reaching the door, Valentia knocked a few times with purpose. And she waited, watching the light in the window flick on before the light above her head followed suit. The door opened a sliver – brief, as the face of a familiar man stared out to her. Her supposed father. Underneath his surprised gaze she felt <nervous/unsure/uneasy>, but that was quelled quickly by the presence behind her, which in turn offered a sense of <calm> and <clarity>. Much needed. Much appreciated.

[“I apologise for the time.”] She spoke, her Russian fluent if not a little disjointed by the strange connotations of her accent. [“I have come for Alena.”]

<Confused> by the statement, Rurik Domachevich felt <anxious> about stepping aside. Still, he opened the door all the way, glancing back at the people she was with. [“You should have called.”]

[“Yes.”] Valentia replied quickly. It was as close as she might get to an apology. Her adoptive father was often quiet, and the stern words hadn’t suited him. [“These are my friends. Anastasia. Ivan.”] Indicating to them, Valentia turned her attention back to him again.

For whatever reason, he breathed a sigh, stepping to one side. [“She is sleeping.”]

[“No, she is not.”] Valentia reasoned, aware as they walked into the small, almost confined house that another light had turned on since they’d gotten there.

[Alena Milosz]

Okay, so maybe Alena shouldn’t have watched Cabin in the Woods before bed. Sure, it wasn’t exactly your traditional horror movie, but it still had put the Russian on edge.

Nonetheless, she did attempt to sleep. It was midnight, which was still relatively early for Alena, but she had a long day ahead of her. The previous day had been a bit more complicated than she had anticipated, and she knew tomorrow would only be more so. She wasn’t sure what to do about her newfound ability. It was still hard to grasp what had happened. Since the event at the convenience store, Alena tried her hardest to get that lion to appear again, but her attempts only resulted in a headache and frustration.

Regardless, she knew what would happen next. Her parents had explained how Valentia had gone off to school after her ability was discovered, and Alena knew she’d have to do the same. In the sixteen-year-old’s mind, it was sort of like X-Men, which was exciting and terrifying at the same time. She was nervous about it, to say the least, which was why she watched a movie to keep her mind off of things.

But now she was tossing and turning in fear of redneck zombies and strange rituals. Over time, she had eventually drifted into a light slumber, but only to be woken up at the sound of the front door knocking.

Her first reaction was to bring the covers over her head. Why was somebody visiting so late? There was no way she was going to answer the door. For all Alena knew, it could be zombies. Instead, she listened carefully as her father shuffled around to go answer it.

She waited, keeping quiet so she could hear what was going on. She was on the second floor, which made it hard to catch who was there, so slowly the Russian turned on her bedside lamp and crawled out of bed, tiptoeing towards the door.

Alena opened the door slowly, cringing as it creaked, the noise seeming painfully loud in the relatively quiet house. Still, she felt as if she were being sneaky enough as she made her way to the stairs.

[“No, she is not.”]

Alena’s eyes lit up at the familiar accent. Without a second thought, she ran down the stairs to the front door. She hadn’t even thought of putting on pants as she turned the corner of the stairs, not caring that she was only clad in a large flannel shirt and panties. [“Valentia!!”] She hadn’t been aware of why her sister was there, but she was just happy to know she was. Without a thought, she all but jumped at Valentia, arms swinging around the woman’s shoulders. She had been completely unaware of the others at the door.

[Anastasia van Drakke]

The minute they’d been seated on the plane, Anastasia had suggested Ivan and Velentia meditate before downing three sleeping pills and effectively knocking herself out. An act of self preservation: it had been difficult enough at her manor and Anastasia knew that it would only get worse.

Ivan woke her as they started in for landing, and with a strong coffee to help shake off the sluggish, groggy feeling her medication had given her, Anastasia was ready to leave instructions with the pilot and driver both.

She didn’t try to speak much to Valentia; it wasn’t what her friend wanted, and in the back of the car Anastasia distracted herself with the small, battery powered hair straightener she’d packed to get rid of the limpness flying had left, as well as fixing her makeup. Her fingers and hands moved in smooth, well practiced motions; it was a comfort, as close to the quiet of meditation as she was able to reach.

Her hand slipped under Ivan’s, turning palm up as the car started to slow and her breath started to quicken, and she took a breath and smiled in thanks at Valentia’s <reassurance> that she took, rewove, and passed to Ivan through their hands.

Squeezing his hand, she let go to climb out of the car and pull on her coat to smooth her fingers over the soft fur. Her heart beat quickened at anxiety that was not hers, and Anastasia took it, retuning it, slowing the anxiety and replacing it with the <calm> Valentia would want.

She smiled brightly when introduced, <content/surety/comfortinnormality> to the anxious father to smooth the path Valentia would guide him down. Ivan was an intimidating sight, and one she did not want this man to fix too closely in his mind.

And then childish <excitement/happiness/love> slammed against her moments before a young woman slammed into her friend. A flicker of <surprise/happiness> that was older and wiser too.

The heiress’s throat worked for a moment, and she blinked twice with beaded eyelashes. The love one had for a sibling. It had been a long time since she’d felt it.

[Ivan Avlang]

With Anastasia asleep, Ivan only concentrated on his own frenetic emotions. Going back to his own soil, being so close to Odarennyi he could already taste it...no amount of his love's calming emotions could have stopped him from worrying about so. Many. Things.

Even without seeing Valentia's face, with her energy, it was easy to tell how she was feeling. But Ivan stared out the plane window, dreading every inch the plane covered, closing the distance between him and the place he had been forced to call home during his youth.

He kept awake the rest of the flight, partly due to his Ruh, egging him on, trying to get him fired up enough that its release was inevitable.

Clearing the journey to Valentia's childhood home was easy enough, now that most of his anxiety had dissipated and replaced by the warm tendrils of calm and ease coming from Anastasia's contact. He was a picture of stoic as they entered the house. He couldn't help but feel slightly out of place in the small home, finding it difficult to reign in his Ruh as it detected something akin to its form.

The sudden appearance of a tiny person jumping on to Valentia made Ivan physically step back from everybody, wary of the energy coming off from said tiny person. Wary for the girl, not for himself. His Ruh was unpredictable and had never been so close to a similar entity. Even at Odarennyi, he hadn't encountered this ability, showing just how rare he interacted with his own kind. Or interacted at all.

He wanted so badly to pull Anastasia into him but he didn't want to risk anything.

[Valentia de la Torres]

Truthfully, the first thing Valentia noticed was her erratic energy reading. Alena was, as she saw her, somewhat sporadic in her signals. But aside from that, nothing out of the ordinary. Now she felt unstable. Her energy, detrimental. When her emotional state spiked as it had when she heard the trainer’s voice, it was impossible not to catch. And she likely knew Ivan felt it too.

She was suddenly engulfed in an embrace she wasn’t expecting. But really, she should have expected it. This was Alena. Physical affection was important to her. After a brief moment of standing absolutely still – frozen by the contact – she loosened her arms and allowed them to circle around her adoptive sister. She hadn’t seen her in such a long time. She felt for her. She felt the overbearing need to shield her from the life she knew nothing about. Because never would she have to know about that.

Valentia pressed a hand to the back of her head gently, holding her closer; <imissedyou/i'llprotectyou/ipromiseyou>. It was such a rarity, to feel like that. She selfishly allowed such compassion to linger until it dissipated completely.

And she let her go.

[“Pack what you absolutely need.”] Valentia instructed, resting her hands on her shoulders. She tried her best to quieten the overwhelming sense of <urgency>; no doubt Anastasia’s <calm> connotations were helping with that. [“You are coming with us.”]

[“Why?”] Their father asked. [“What do you know?”]

[“Odarennyi is no place for her.”] Valentia said harshly. It was a stark cry from the way she usually spoke about the school. Unaware of the presence of an empathy in the room, Rurik felt free reigning <concern/disdain/fear/anger> for the aforementioned school.

As he searched her expression, he couldn’t help but project; <lookwhattheydidtoyou / theybrokeyou / theyruinedyou>. It was no secret they carried ill feelings towards the school. [“What makes another school any different?”]

<Frustration> sparked within Valentia at the question. As if she would be here if there were no difference. [“She will be with me. Under my care. And the care of my people.”] With that, the trainer turned to share a glance with her dear friends. Her dark eyes fell on Anastasia; surely she could be more convincing than anyone else.

[Alena Milosz]

When Alena felt Velentia's hand press to the back of her head, her own grip tightened around her sister; <imissedyou/pleasestay/safe>. As Valentia started to pull away, Alena gave her another quick squeeze before stepping back, a huge grin spreading across her face. She opened her mouth to ask how long she would be staying, but felt a sudden <concern/confusion> as her sister put her hands on her shoulders, instructing her to pack.

Her grin dropped, the confusion she felt taking over her features; Alena was an open book when it came to her emotions. [“Is everything okay?”] she questioned immediately. Yet, at the explanation as to why she needed to pack, her eyes lit up; <surprise/excitement/nervous>. [“We're going to America?!”]

Alena's confusion returned when she watched the exchange between her sister and father. She was still, more or less, oblivious to how detrimental Odarennyi was. All she knew is that it took Valentia away from her family, but Alena never knew the details. She decided to keep put while the conversation continued, having no real sense of urgency to pack. As far as she knew, there was no real rush, nor did she understand why there would be.

The idea of traveling to a different country was exciting! It was like something out of a movie, and Alena couldn't help but to grin at the idea. This was totally going to go in her blog. [“So I'll get to see you every day!?”] Yes, the idea of suddenly moving was a little nerve wracking, but if she had Valentia, it made things a bit less scary.

It was only until Valentia glanced towards the doorway that she even noticed there were others there. She had been completely oblivious to the blonde and the-- woah. Immediatley, Alena felt her cheeks warm up at the sight of this gloriously hunky man standing at the door. She felt a wave of <embarrassment> as she gawked at him, suddenly realizing she wasn't wearing pants. Immediately, her hands pulled at the fabric and she physically moved herself behind Valentia, using her sister as a human shield. [“Uh...h-hello!”] she gave a quick wave to the pair. [“Iiiiii'll...go pack now.”]

With that said, she bolted back up the stairs.